Texas Agrees With the Top Dog Names

Max and Bella are the top dog names in the country. Although there are some creative pet names in East Texas like Limo, Shiner, and Cat floating around for our beloved dogs, the names that are most popular would work for pets or people. See if you agree with the top choices.

My daughters and I just acquired a new mini Schnauzer puppy in November, and naming him was a big deal! It took a several discussions over several days, and they finally named him Benjamin, and we're calling him Benny. We've also got a mini Pinscher-Chihuahua mix and her name is Liberty (since she was born around the 4th of July), and it's Libby for short. We're big fans of longer, more official names that we can shorten on a daily basis, and the longer names still roll off the tongue easily when the dog gets into mischief and we need to yell. Max and Daisy would probably work well for that scolding tone too.

Rover.com came out with the most popular dog names, and if your dog's name didn't make this list, you probably at least know someone with a pet that shares one of these names. These names -- especially the female names -- look like they could double as a kindergarten class attendance roster.

I used to have a Sophie (another mini Schnauzer), and I've got friends in Texas that have dogs named Maggie, Bailey, Buddy, and Cooper. Do you think the Rover list fits Texas? I do.

Rover.com said 44 percent of all dog names on the list are human names, and they found that 94 percent of us consider dogs to be family members. Of course! As long as we're footin' the bill for food and shelter, they're family members. We might as well call them Honey or Dear.

If you need more pet-naming inspiration, other names to make the most popular list include Zoey, Jax, Zeus, Louie, Murphy, Gracie, Penny, Lily, Chloe, Piper, and Gus. Unless your kids already share those names. I've got a daughter named Piper and should probably let her keep that for herself.

Dog names are usually pop culture-influenced too, with Star Wars-inspired names on the rise. Jedi, anyone?